1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for preparing food products. In particular, it relates to a method for preparing precooked, sliced bacon and related products.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The term "bacon" broadly defines a category of cured and processed pork bellies, most commonly pork bellies that have been sliced into strips or round pieces. Curing traditionally entails the infusion of a liquid pickle solution into the pork bellies. Infusion of a pickle solution creates an infusion weight that exceeds initial or "green" weight of the pork belly. Depending on manufacturing capabilities and customer preference, infusion weight may be any where from 105% to 115% of green weight.
For a manufacturer to label its product as uncooked bacon, federal regulations require that the cured pork bellies must have a weight not exceeding the weight of the green pork belly. To obtain the necessary weight reduction, the prior art has subjected the infused pork bellies to a prolonged, low-temperature cook cycle in smoke house ovens. Modem techniques employ smoke house ovens which heat the product to a core temperature of 126.degree. F. to 140.degree. F. during a 6 to 12 hour cook cycle. This slow, low temperature heating produces a 10%-15% loss of injected weight without reaching temperatures to fully cook the pork bellies. After the smokehouse treatment, the internal temperatures of the cured pork bellies are chilled to below 35.degree. F. to facilitate slicing. The product is sliced and then packaged.
Typically, the uncooked, sliced bacon is cooked using heat generated from the surface of a skillet or grill. The heat renders fat contained in the uncooked bacon causing the bacon to shrink while producing bacon grease. The intense heat at the surface of the bacon causes the bacon to crisp and brown and causes other reactions producing the color, texture, and flavor of bacon that is highly desirable to the consumer.
There are numerous drawbacks to this traditional manner of cooking, including the spattering of grease during cooking, the disposal of grease after cooking, and the relatively long time and focused effort required for cooking. The bacon drippings also pose a safety hazard, because of their potential to burn or to catch on fire. Consequently, there has been a need for precooked bacon that can be simply and quickly reheated in a microwave oven or on a hot surface.
Manufacturers of bacon have attempted to meet this need by precooking bacon in microwave ovens. For a manufacturer to label its product as "cooked" or "precooked," federal regulations require that the cured, cooked pork bellies must have a yield not more than 40% the weight of uncured pork bellies, i.e., not less than 60% shrinkage from the initial weight of the pork belly.
A generally unwanted byproduct of the cooking process is the bacon fat or drippings produced when the bacon is cooked at a temperature that renders the bacon fat. Because of environmental concerns, manufacturers cannot simply dispose of the bacon drippings. Instead, the bacon drippings must be treated in the manufacturing plant's waste treatment facility or processed using an on-site or remote rendering process. Consequently, there exists a need for a precooking process that minimizes or eliminates the amount of bacon drippings that need to be treated.
Cooking in microwave ovens is preferred by bacon manufacturers, because it provides a quick and inexpensive method for heating the meat and obtaining the requisite weight reduction. The energy required for microwave heating is only 60%-80% of the energy required by other sources. There are significant drawbacks to microwave cooking, however. In particular, bacon slices heated by microwave energy are heated from within to a maximum temperature of 212.degree. F. as opposed to by the intense energy produced at the surface of the bacon slices when they are cooked on a skillet or grill. As a result, microwave processing results in a lack of surface browning, a lack of red lean color, and a lack of the texture and flavor development expected of traditionally cooked bacon. Consequently, there exists a further need for a precooking process that produces bacon having the color, texture, aroma, and flavor of traditionally cooked bacon.
Thus, there remains a definite need for an effective method for precooking bacon that minimizes or eliminates the amount of bacon drippings to be disposed. There remains a further definite need for a quick and inexpensive method for precooking bacon having the color, texture, aroma, and flavor of traditionally cooked bacon. The present invention satisfies these and other needs and provides further related advantages.